Charles Correll

Quick Facts

Charles James Correll was an American radio comedian, best known for his work on the Amos 'n' Andy show with Freeman S. Gosden. Correll voiced the central character of Andy Brown, along with various supporting characters. Before teaming up with Gosden, Correll worked as a stenographer and a bricklayer. The two men met in Durham, North Carolina while working for the Joe Bren Producing Company. Both Correll and Freeman vacationed at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin in the 1930s and would broadcast Amos 'n' Andy from there. From 1928 to 1934, the team never took a vacation away from their radio show. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Amos 'n' Andy on the air, the broadcast of March 19, 1958 was done by Correll and Gosden using their real voices and calling each other by their real names; this had never been done on the show before.

Correll's first marriage to Marie Janes headed for divorce court on May 26, 1937; the couple had been married for ten years. On September 11, 1937 in Glendale, California, he married Alyce McLaughlin, a former dancer; they had five children, Dorothy, Charles, Barbara, John, and Richard. On July 5, 1954, John Correll, his seven year old son, died of what appeared to be an accidental poisoning. An autopsy determined the young boy died of an acute kidney infection.

Correll died in a Chicago hospital following a heart attack; at the time of his death he was retired and living in Beverly Hills, California, just a few blocks away from his radio partner, Freeman Gosden.

His son, Charles Correll Jr. also went on to become an actor and a director.